In Irkutsk, universities reacted differently to rising tuition costs. Some offered discounts for applicants and students, others kept prices unchanged or raised them only by inflation. At ISU and BSEU, various benefits apply, from exam results and grades to social and corporate discounts, with universities covering the difference from their own funds. Details on how prices changed and who can get discounts are in the article.

Some universities in Irkutsk have introduced a discount system for applicants due to the increase in tuition fees. At the same time, the universities will cover the difference between the set price and the price with the discount from their own budgets. The discount terms apply to many groups of the population.
Tuition fees (full-time study)
State universities
The cost of educational services for applicants at ISU has been set in accordance with Order No. 1553 of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the requirements contained in the federal state educational standards of higher education, the university assured.
"ISU, as before, is interested in the best applicants and students and strives to make high-quality classical education more accessible. The Federal Law 'On Education in the Russian Federation' allows educational organizations to reduce the cost of paid educational services, taking into account covering the shortfall from their own funds. Relying on this law, the Academic Council decided to introduce discounts for applicants and students at ISU starting in 2015," said Vadim Ryabchikov, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at ISU.
The discount may be granted to students and postgraduates based on the results of the Unified State Exam and entrance exams, for academic achievements, and so on. For example, for first-year full-time students with a total Unified State Exam score of 200 or more, the discount will be 40%; for full-time students (students and postgraduates) in the second and subsequent years with an average academic grade of "5" based on the results of the session, it will be 30%. Discounts are also provided for students and postgraduates working at ISU (from 10% to 30%). The discount period ranges from one academic semester to one year. For students who enrolled at ISU before 2015, tuition fees are maintained in accordance with the concluded contracts, taking into account possible inflation indexation.

At BSUEP, the reasons for the price increase were also named as an order from the Ministry of Education and Science and the requirements of federal standards. The university offers its own package of discounts.
- It is stipulated that the cost must not be lower than that set by the Ministry of Education, taking into account adjustment coefficients. For example, the base cost is 64,000 rubles for social and economic specialties, and if adjustment coefficients are applied, it comes to 125,000. How did we get out of the situation: we are obliged to set 125,000 in the order, but the law does not prohibit reducing this amount at the expense of our own reserves. So we reduced it by introducing discounts. It can be said that for almost everyone, tuition will cost an average of 77,000. This is the average price in the city," explained Lyubov Lugovaya, executive secretary of the admissions committee at BSUEP.
Discounts apply to applicants with outstanding abilities. There are also social discounts, including for public sector employees and those who have found themselves in a difficult life situation. In addition, there are corporate discounts. For example, if an applicant graduated from the college at BSUEP, or if his father, mother, grandmother, grandfather, great-grandmother, or great-grandfather has a diploma from this university, the discount is guaranteed.
A similar situation exists at MSLU EALI (formerly ISLU). Tuition fees range from 124,000 to 152,000 rubles. A discount system is also provided. Detailed information is published on the university’s website.
As for Irkutsk National Research Technical University, the situation is different. The university is also under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, but prices have remained at the same level. As stated by the university’s press service, IRNITU is making every effort to ensure that education is high-quality and accessible – tuition fees have remained at last year’s level.
Meanwhile, a source at one of Irkutsk’s universities believes that "the polytechnic" simply fears nothing.
- Polytechnic has the status of a research university; everyone knows it will not be closed. They have nothing to fear. They already had violations before, - the source said.
Specialized universities
At IrGUPS, tuition fees increased by an average of 5.5%, that is, to the level of inflation. The university explained what these changes are related to.
"Every year the Government of the Russian Federation approves a resolution on the cost of education in federal state higher education institutions. According to the resolution, tuition fees at universities may increase simultaneously in many Russian universities, which is exactly what happened. At the same time, in certain regions of the country, increasing coefficients apply, for example, regional coefficients, which must also be tied to the base tuition fee. Accordingly, in our region the price also increases by the amount of the regional coefficient. Most universities in the Irkutsk Region naturally follow these norms, which is why tuition prices there rose significantly this year; in some cases, the increase was 50%," said Vyacheslav Bubnov, Vice-Rector for Economics at IrGUPS.
The vice-rector also specified that, in addition to the resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation, this year the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation developed recommendations in which it advises universities to set prices as follows: take the previous year’s figures as the base cost and increase them by the inflation rate. Such rules apply constantly to those who enrolled in previous years. This year, the university also received the same recommendations from Roszheldor, which refer to applicants for the 2015-2016 academic year.
"That is, while many universities decided to follow the resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation, our university decided to follow the recommendations of the Ministry of Education and Science and our founder – Roszheldor," Vyacheslav Bubnov concluded.
At Irkutsk State Medical University, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health of Russia, prices have not changed since last year and range from 70,000 to 160,000 rubles per year. The cheapest program is preventive medicine, the most expensive is general medicine.
It is worth noting that tuition fees at Irkutsk State Agrarian University named after Ezhevsky (formerly the Agricultural Academy) have decreased. As explained by Yaroslav Ivanyo, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at IrGAU, the university works for the rural population, and due to the socio-economic situation in the country, prices were not increased.
Non-state universities
At the Siberian Academy of Law, Economics and Management, prices rose by the inflation rate (12%). A year of study will cost an applicant an average of 50,000 to 90,000 rubles.
Anyone can obtain all detailed information about tuition fees, budget-funded places, passing scores, provision of dormitories, and so on on the official websites of the universities.